As had been expected for some time Deco has signed for Chelsea. The london club confirmed the transfer today and Chelsea will pay Barça €10 million for the Portuguese star who has signed for two seasons. Deco was one of the cornerstones of the team that won La Liga in 2004/5 and 2005/6 and the Champions League in 2005/6. However, his form has been disappointing in the last two seasons as he struggled with various personal problems. He played well in Euro 2008 and could well refind some of his old form for a new club. While we may not cry too much now to lose him we should never forget what a great player he was in those first two seasons. So, thank you Deco for some great memories, I wish you luck at Chelsea (I just hope you don't win anything for the b*st*rds   :p  ) 

He may not be a Barça player for very much longer but tonight Deco showed his class as Portugal beat The Czech Republic 3-1 to book a place in the quarter finals. Deco scrambled in Portugal's first in the 8th minute after Ronaldo had played a neat one-two with Nuno Gomes. He then went on to play a part in the two other Portuguese goals.

Amusingly after Deco's goal ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley said "There wasn't a player lying behind the goal-line so the goal stands." This was the commentator who got it wrong for Van Nistlerooy's goal on Monday. What is strange is how instead of apologizing for his mistake he tries to ridicule the offside ruling instead. His sidekick David Pleat chipped in ten minutes later by mentioning the "farce of the Dutch goal." What is it with TV pundits and commentator...

Fcbnews will try to bring you a brief daily round up of the games at Euro 2008 with a special bias for the Barça players. However, don't expect me to watch every single game of the tournament as I find international games can often be a wee bit boring. There was no Barça involvement in the opening game between Switzerland and Czech Republic and after just 30 minutes I found I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Although the Swiss had the better chances the Czechs won the game with a second half goal from substitute Vaclav Sverkos.

The second game between Portugal and Turkey promised to be a bit more interesting as Deco was playing for Portugal and there was also a chance to see ex-blaugrana Simao Sabrosa who I have always had a soft spot for, as well as possible transfer target Moutinho.

If we discount Gianluca Zambrotta who played in Italy's 3-1 win over Belgium on Friday, there were five Barça players involved in friendly internationals this weekend in preparation for Euro 2008. Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta all played in Spain's 2-1 victory over Peru, Xavi set up Spain's first goal with an excellent through ball to David Villa. Deco played the first 45 minutes of Portugal's 2-0 win over Georgia, while Thierry Henry also played the first half only of France's disappointing 0-0 draw with Paraguay. Thuram and Abidal are also in France's Euro 2008 squad but the played no part in yesterday's game.

Well, I can't say this was not totally expected, Deco has seemed unhappy for quite a while. The final straw was the whistles he received at Sunday's game with Mallorca. One report says that Deco got showered and changed at half time without saying anything and Rijkaard was forced to put on Bojan as a substitute. It is a great shame that one of the great players of the last few seasons should end up leaving in this manner. However, it must be said that he has not performed well in the last two seasons and is a shadow of what he was like in his first season when he rivalled Ronaldinho as the team's most important player. He has declared a desire to play either in England or Italy. I wish him all the best. Click here for a Deco compilation video.

With important matches against Espanyol and Manchester United in the next seven days it is good to see that many of the players with physical problems are recovering in time. Deco who hasn't played since the start of March looks ready to play after training well for the last three days. He may well start against Espanyol to try and regain match fitness and then be available for the Champions League game.

Henry, Iniesta and Marquez all missed last weekend's game at Recreativo but today trained normally for most of the session and only at the end did they partake in individual exercises along with Milito and Thuram. Frank Rijkaard will need to decide who to play and who to rest against Espanyol with an eye on having the team at its maximum level next Wednesday. The only first team players who are s...

Ronaldinho did not train today due to him feeling more discomfort in his adductor muscle. The chances of him playing on Sunday are now very slim. Deco who limped out of yesterday's session, today followed a specific recovery plan but is also doubtful. Gabi Milito also trained apart from his team mates due to a minor injury problem.

With all the stories surrounding both players it was good to hear that they both trained normally with the group this afternoon. Milito and Toure did not train as they are recovering from yesterday's game, while Eto'o who is nursing a calf injury only joined in the warm up. Deco is said to be in with a chance of playing on Sunday, while Ronaldinho will have to wait to see how his thigh bears up. With just a few weeks left of the season, for both players this could turn out to be a last opportunity to show that they still deserve to continue at the club. Let's hope they take it.

International friendlies are not usually my cup of tea especially when I was really getting into the Copa del Rey games. But with Bojan supposedly making his debut for Spain, and England playing their first game under Capello I decided to set the video for one game, the DVD recorder for the other game, go out to eat and come back and watch both games.

First up I watched England beat Switzerland 2-1 at Wembley in a pretty boring game that got better in the second half. Rooney and Bentley played well for England. I then put on the Spain-France game, winding the tape forward to the kick off and so missing any team news. The teams both played in unusual strips which I found put me off at the beginning, France in blue shorts and red tops while Spain were sporting a particularly horribly w...

Anderson Luis de Souza, better known as Deco, returns to the squad for tomorrow night's second leg Copa Del Rey game with Sevilla (kick off 9pm local time). As usual for Cup games Frank Rijkaard has named a 16-man squad, so there is no place for Saturday's debutante Pedrito. The players trained this evening and will spend the night at a hotel to prepare the game, as they usually do for important Champions League games.

Sevilla are without a number of players, Keita, Kanoute and Kone on international duty, Palop and Javi Navarro are still injured, and Escude is suspended after being sent off in the 2-0 defeat at San Mames on Saturday. Luis Fabiano is suffering from a cold but is expected to play. Sevilla are quite unpredictable this season but they are not nearly as strong without Keita...